Hand deformities in Parkinsonism

In a series of 86 patients with Parkinsonism there were 34 (40 per cent) who had some deformity of the hands. These deformities occurred more frequently among those with post-encephalitic Parkinsonism than in those who gave no history of encephalitis.Hand deformities are associated with muscular rigidity, but not with the extent or duration of tremor. It seems probable that the deformities are due to localized extra-pyramidal muscular rigidity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32020/1/0000062.pd